VERDEN I MINE ØJNE by Pernille Garde Stage Art
NB: In Danish
DATE:
August 21nd at 7:00 PM – Dress rehearsal
August 22nd at 7:00 PM
August 23rd at 7:00 PM
August 25th at 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM
LOCATION: Teatersalen, William Wains Gade 11, Refshaleøen, Copenhagen – see location
WHAT: Walking Performance
FREE – Reserve a seat
Reserve free ticket
Join us on a journey through the world, down into the fauna of the earth’s crust, and into unknown and invisible worlds. Follow the tracks of a female researcher who was ahead of her time and later forgotten.
“The quiet, wondering feeling of happiness when I sat at the microscope and observed the diversity of life in my small world.”
Marie Hammer (from Forsker i fem verdensdele, 1981)
Verden i Mine Øjne is a sensory walking performance and a choreographic work that honors the rediscovered Danish researcher and zoologist Marie Hammer (1907-2002). A woman who, throughout her life, sought and found a great truth about our shared world. It is not just a portrait of a unique researcher, but also a familiar story about one of the overlooked women in science. The performance sets a renewed focus on Marie Hammer and lets the audience experience the wondrous beauty of nature through her eyes.
The performance explores Marie Hammer’s lifelong studies of microscopic mites that live hidden under the earth and have crucial importance for ecosystems. Marie Hammer’s deep fascination with microbiology and her dedication to research lead her through more than 50 years of travels to all continents. At home on her workbench with her husband and four children around her, she examines thousands of collected mites under the microscope. Over time, she provides evidence for Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory – that all the world’s continents were once united in a single supercontinent more than 200 million years ago, and that the continents have since drifted apart to their current positions. Marie Hammer’s research is unique, her work ethic enormous, and her research results epoch-making. Verden i Mine Øjne takes the audience on a fascinating journey. Three dancers investigate Marie Hammer’s life and research with curiosity and humor. They jump between human and mite, fieldwork and family life, past and present, and between small and large universes.
Duration: 90 minutes.
ABOUT MARIE HAMMER
Marie Hammer (1907-2002), zoologist and dr.phil., is one of the first women to study natural sciences at the University of Copenhagen and becomes a master in 1932. She participates in Knud Rasmussen’s 7th Thule expedition to Greenland in 1933 as the only woman. Her research on mites begins in 1931, and alongside, she is fascinated by Alfred Wegener’s controversial continental drift theory presented in 1912. Marie Hammer collects mites on all continents over 50 years and travels to, among other places, Canada, Iceland, North America, South America, Australia, Tahiti, Bali, Tonga, New Guinea, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Iran, and the Sahara.On a remote meadow in Argentina, she makes a sensational discovery. The mite Mucronotrus Nasalis turns out to be identical to individuals from cold sources in, for example, Lapland, Rold Skov, and as far away as New Zealand. Marie Hammer publishes more than 40 papers on mites. In 1979, she publishes together with J.A. Wallwork the paper A Review of the World Distribution of oribatid mites in Relation to Continental Drift, which finally argues for the connection between the distribution of mites and the movements of the continents over the last 200 million years and thereby proves Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pernille Garde Stage Art, with artistic leader and choreographer Pernille Garde, works in the borderland between dance, theater, and performance and blends a strong physical and detailed language with narrative and poetic universes. Pernille Garde creates choreographic works about human existence and investigates, among other things, themes such as loss, artistic creation processes, abuse, and war.
www.pernillegarde.dk
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Verden i Mine Øjne begins outdoors as a walking performance, before the audience is guided back to Teatersalen, where the rest of the performance takes place indoors.
CREDITS
Concept, script, choreography, text, and direction: Pernille Garde
Performers and dancers: Helene Kvint, Lisbeth Sonne Andersen, and Tomomi Yamauchi
Dramaturgical and choreographic consultant and co-developer: Kasper Daugaard Poulsen
Composer and sound design: Mons Niklas Schak
Set design and video design: Signe Krogh
Light design: Michael Breine
Costumes and props: Åsa Gjerstad
Stage manager and production leader: Carl Asmussen
Signature photo and graphic design: Robin Neil Hart. (Unknown photographer. Photo kindly lent by Marie Hammer’s children)
PR/group sales: Janne Hovmand Storm
Administration: JC – Copenhagen
Producer: Pernille Garde Stage Art – www.pernillegardestageart.dk
Collaborating partners: Metropolis and Helsingør Teater in 2024
Supported by Statens Kunstfond, Augustinus Fonden, Dansk Skuespillerforbunds Projektstøttemidler, and Knud Højgaards Fond.
Photos: Jacob Stage